rhe  Elements  of  Situation 
Comedy 


%AL.  E.  CHRISTIE 


University  of  California 

Southern  Regional 

Library  Facility 


il 


The  Elements  of  Situation 
Comedy 


"By 

Al.  E.  Christie 


One  of  a  Series  of  Lectures  Especially 

Prepared  for  Student-Members 

of  The  Palmer  Plan 


Palmer  Photoplay  Corporation 

DEPARTMENT   OF   EDUCATION 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA 


Cofyright,  iq20.  Palmer  Plan  Ctrfiorathn,  Los  jlngetes,  Califtrnia 
All  Rights  Reserved 


Al.  E.  Christie 

AL.  E.  CHRISTIE  is  universally  recognized  as  the  most  pro- 
lific author,  director  and  producer  of  one,  tivo  and  five-reel 
comedies  that  the  screen  has  ever  knoivn,  having  to  his 
credit  nearly  a  thousand  productions. 

After  a  number  of  years'  experience  as  a  director  for  Uni- 
versal, Nestor  and  other  producing  organizations,  Mr.  Christie 
organized  the  Christie  Film  Company,  producing  comedies  for 
independent  release,  and  since  that  time  has  turned  out  a  mini- 
mum of  four  one-reel  subjects  and  one  tivo-reel  production  every 
month.  Recently  Mr.  Christie  has  entered  the  five-reel  field,  and 
his  large  studios  in  Los  Angeles  are  busy  day  and  night  producing 
these  three  forms  of  laugh-makers. 

In  the  folloiving  pages  this  experienced  ivriter  and  director  of 
situation-comedies  has  given  to  the  student  advice  that  if  heeded 
and  practically  utilized  'will  be  of  direct  and  definite  value. 


ARTS 


DEFINITIONS  do  not  always  define  and  fine  di- 
versities of  opinion  occasionally  give  rise  to  several 
different  and  varying  definitions  for  a  single  thing. 
In  spite  of  this,  I  know  of  no  better  means  of  getting  im- 
mediately at  the  roots  of  a  subject  than  the  examination  and 
analysis  of  the  definition  or  definitions  of  the  subject  in- 
volved. Perhaps  in  the  true  sense  of  its  meaning  the  com- 
pound word  "situation-comedy"  is  tautological,  for  any 
presentable  screen  comedy  must  contain  situations.  The 
term  has  come  into  common  use,  however,  in  order  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  clean-cut,  plausible  quality  of  screen 
humor  and  what  is  known  as  "slapstick"  comedy.  With  the 
details  of  this  difference  we  shall  deal  presently.  For  the 
moment  let  us  turn  to  the  Standard  Dictionary.  There  we 
find  comedy  defined  as  "Dramatic  representation  of  lively 
or  amusing  incidents,  droll  characters,  etc. ;  an  entertain- 
ing drama ;  anything  ludicrous  or  comical."  In  Webster's 
Unabridged  Dictionary  we  find  the  following:  "A  drama 
of  light  and  amusing  rather  than  serious  character,  and 
typically  having  a  happy  ending;  the  phase  of  drama  ex- 
pressing the  comic  or  depicting  scenes  of  amusing  or  cheer- 
ful nature."  Dryden  wrote  "Comedy  presents  us  with  the 
imperfections  of  human  nature;  farce  entertains  us  with 
what  is  monstrous  and  chimerical."  The  phraseology  used 
in  the  Standard  and  Webster's  differs,  but  the  content  is 
essentially  the  same. 

2.  Of  the  word  "situation"  the  Standard  Dictionary 
says:  "A  combination  of  circumstances;  complications; 
crisis,"  while  Webster's  Unabridged  says  "Relative  posi- 
tion or  combination  of  circumstances;  temporary  state  or 
relation  of  affairs  at  a  moment  of  action,  as  in  a  dramatic 
scene."  All  of  these  elements  have  been  dealt  with  sep- 
arately in  the  Handbook,  but  I  am  setting  them  down 
here  in  order  to  emphasize  a  point  that  needs  reiteration, 
and  that  is  that  comedy  is  essentially  drama,  regardless  of 

3 


whether  a  screen  comedy  be  of  one,  two  or  five-reel  length, 
//  must  have  a  dramatic  structure  builded  and  shaped  just 
as  carefully  and  skillfully  as  though  it  were  a  serious  drama. 
During  a  term  extending  over  something  more  than  a  dec- 
ade I  have  been  intensively  concerned  with  the  direction 
and  production  of  one,  two  and  five-reel  comedies.  Many 
of  the  stories  upon  which  these  offerings  were  founded  I 
have  purchased  from  free-lance  writers ;  some  were  written 
by  stafif  writers,  and  some  I  have  written  myself.  I  have 
always  been  eager  to  consider  and  purchase,  if  possible, 
stories  submitted  from  the  outside,  and  the  reason  that  I 
have  at  times  been  compelled  to  depend  upon  staff  writers 
or  to  take  time  between  productions  to  create  stories  myself 
has  been  that  so  large  a  percentage  of  the  manuscripts  sent 
to  me  have  been  hastily  or  carelessly  evolved  and  that  so 
many  persons  have  seemed  to  feel  that  no  special  study 
or  preparation  is  necessary  to  write  screen  comedy,  even 
though  they  have  fully  realized  that  the  creation  of  serious 
dramas  requires  hard  work  and  detailed  study. 

3.  The  failure  to  understand  that  comedy  is  just  an- 
other form  of  drama  has  been  responsible  for  much  of  this. 
In  analyzing  even  the  wildest  sort  of  "slapstick"  comedy, 
you  will  invariably  find  at  least  a  trace  of  fundamental 
drama.  If  you  will  recall  a  few  of  the  more  preposterous 
of  such  productions  that  you  have  witnessed  you  will  im- 
mediately realize  that  each  of  them  contains  the  dramatic 
triad  in  some  degree.  Perhaps  the  characters  were  dressed 
in  misfit  clothing  such  as  no  one  ever  wore.  There  may 
have  been  strange  and  wonderful  mustaches  and  beards  of 
fantastic  shape  and  unheard-of  growth.  The  facial  makeup 
may  have  been  grotesque,  but  invariably  there  was  a  basis 
of  conflict.  Two  of  the  comedians  were  struggling  against 
each  other  for  the  hand  or  attentions  of  a  young  lady;  per- 
adventure  one  in  attempting  to  perform  a  polite  service  for 
the  wife  of  the  other  blunderingly  brought  himself  under 
suspicion,  and  the  resultant  enmity  between  the  two  men 
was  productive  of  conflict  of  a  highly  ludicrous  nature; 
mayhap  a  group  of  absurd  crooks  were  in  conflict  with  sev- 

4 


eral  droll  detectives  over  the  theft  of  a  string  of  obviously 
fake  diamonds.  In  every  case,  in  spite  of  the  throwing  of 
pies,  the  shooting  of  harmless  bullets,  the  falling  of  men 
and  women  from  windows  of  high  buildings  only  to  pick 
themselves  up  and  run  away  unhurt — in  spite  of  all  these 
"monstrous  and  chimerical"  happenings,  there  was  in  each 
case  a  basis  of  struggle  and  suspense  and  a  foundation  of 
dramatic  structure. 

4.  Common  though  careless  usage  has  given  us  many 
terms  and  phrases  that  are  not  directly  applicable  to  what 
they  are  intended  to  express  and  that  therefore  need  ex- 
planation. In  studio  parlance  the  term  "situation-comedy" 
is  applied  to  the  one  and  two-reel  subjects  in  which  the 
characters  are  dressed  as  they  would  be  in  real  life,  and  in 
which  their  actions  are  plausible  and  based  upon  human 
motives.  The  five-reel  subjects  of  this  description  attain 
the  dignity  of  the  term  "comedy-drama."  The  situation- 
comedy  is  in  reality  a  one  or  two-reel  comedy-drama.  Most 
of  those  that  I  have  produced  and  those  that  have  been 
done  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sidney  Drew,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carter 
DeHaven  and  others  of  like  nature  supply  good  examples 
of  situation-comedies.  While  there  may  be  a  little  exag- 
geration and  a  little  stretching  of  plausibility,  the  situa- 
tions and  incidents  must  in  a  general  way  be  of  the  sort 
that  might  happen  in  real  life  to  real  persons. 

5.  I  would  advise  the  student  photoplaywright  to 
first  decide  through  self-analysis  whether  he  or  she  is  bet- 
ter fitted  for  the  creation  of  screen  drama  or  comedy.  So 
that  I  may  not  seem  to  contradict  myself  after  having  al- 
ready stated  that  comedy  is  essentially  drama,  I  shall  dif- 
ferentiate by  stating  that  comedy  is  drama  built  singly  and 
solely  for  laughing  purposes.  There  are  very  few  who  are 
capable  of  doing  successful  work  in  serious  drama  and 
at  the  same  time  of  creating  really  laughable  and  salable 
screen  comedy.  There  are  exceptions,  but  they  are  rare. 
There  is  a  market  for  drama  and  a  market  for  comedy,  and 
the  photoplaywright  would  do  well  to  decide  which  sort 
of  material  he  or  she  is  most  likely  to  successfully  write, 


and  then  devote  every  bit  of  mental  energy  to  one  line  or 
the  other. 

6.  I  shall  proceed  then  under  the  assumption  that  I 
am  discussing  the  subject  of  situation-comedy  with  a  single 
student  who  has  decided  to  perfect  his  or  her  technique, 
just  as  I  would  like  to  personally  go  over  the  subject  with 
every  individual  who  is  interested  if  I  had  the  time  to 
spare.  By  all  means  devote  ample  time  to  broad,  compre- 
hensive study  of  the  Handbook  and  the  Photoplay  Plot 
Encyclopedia.  Become  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  whole 
subject  of  the  photoplay.  Bear  in  mind  that  it  is  a  separate 
art.  In  the  art  of  painting  one  may  excel  with  miniatures, 
another  with  marines,  and  still  another  with  still-life. 
Each  of  the  arts  has  its  several  branches  of  technique,  but 
each  of  the  arts  is  based  upon  one  common  foundation. 
The  painter  before  he  may  win  fame  or  fortune  in  his 
chosen  specialty  must  first  know  all  there  is  to  know  of 
the  fundamentals  of  painting. 

7.  So  it  is  with  the  musician — one  may  win  a  world- 
wide reputation  at  the  piano,  another  as  a  violinist,  and 
others  as  players  of  the  cornet,  trombone  or  harp,  but  each 
of  them  must  first  be  well  grounded  in  the  fundamentals 
of  music.  Do  not  allow  yourself  to  believe  that  because 
you  are  dealing  with  lightness  and  laughter  your  work  is 
any  less  serious  than  that  of  the  individual  who  creates  the 
most  heart-stirring  drama  or  tragedy.  Study  the  funda- 
mentals of  construction  as  set  forth  in  the  Handbook  and 
the  Encyclopedia,  and  study  the  screen.  Let  your  screen 
study  be  inclusive  of  all  sorts  of  features,  both  comedy  and 
drama.  Then  when  you  feel  that  you  have  a  substantial 
grasp  of  the  subject,  turn  your  attention  to  comedy. 

8.  When  you  have  made  this  decision,  pause  and 
realize  that  very  little  of  comedy  is  spontaneous.  It  must 
be  carefully  builded  and  manipulated  just  the  same  as  any 
other  form  of  story.  Some  of  the  most  successful  comedy 
writers  that  I  know  of  have  the  appearance  of  undertakers 
or  credit-men,  rather  than  wholesale  purveyors  of  laughter. 

9.  Do  not  mistake  my  meaning,  however.   Essentially 


there  must  be  a  well-developed  sense  of  humor  if  you  ex- 
pect to  succeed  as  a  creator  of  comedy,  but  that  sense  of 
humor  must  be  firmly  harnessed  with,  although  never 
harassed  by,  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  technique  of 
construction.  If  you  have  not  a  sense  of  humor  you  cannot 
write  comedy,  but  you  may  have  the  most  well-developed 
sense  of  humor  in  the  world  and  still  you  cannot  write 
comedy  if  you  do  not  permit  yourself  to  be  guided  by  the 
rules  of  photoplay  plot  construction. 

10.  Let  you  and  me  review  the  chapters  of  the  Hand- . 
book  and  apply  them  to  comedy  construction.  First  we 
have  action.  If  you  have  read  and  studied  the  Handbook 
you  will  probably  say:  "Why  discuss  action — I  know  that 
it  is  the  basis  of  all  screen  stories  and  that  is  enough."  All 
right,  let  me  continue  just  the  same.  I  know  that  the  writer 
of  comedy  is  more  inclined  to  ignore  this  necessity  than  is 
the  average  student  of  serious  drama.  The  comedy  of  the 
speaking  stage  and  the  humorous  story  written  for  printed 
publication  depend  to  a  very  large  extent  upon  dialogue, 
repartee  and  smart  sayings,  or  upon  the  ability  of  the 
author  to  indulge  in  brilliant  description.  Mark  Twain, 
Irvin  Cobb  and  other  authors  of  humorous  literature  may 
cause  you  to  roll  and  squirm  with  mirth  merely  through 
their  ability  to  manipulate  words  and  phrases.  You  as 
a  photoplaywright  might  possess  that  same  ability,  but 
neither  you,  Irvin  Cobb  nor  any  other  humorist  will  ever 
meet  with  success  as  a  writer  of  screen  comedy  by  indulg- 
ing in  any  such  tactics.  I  have  received,  read  and  rejected 
manuscripts  from  famous  writers  of  printed  humor,  and 
in  many  of  these  manuscripts  I  have  found  only  enough 
action  to  supply  material  for  a  very  small  portion  of  a 
single  reel  of  film.  In  many  cases  I  have  tilted  back  in 
my  chair  and  laughed  heartily  at  the  story  as  expressed  in 
words,  and  then  after  analyzing  it  for  action  I  have  been 
compelled  to  reject  it  with  a  letter  explaining  its  screen 
deficiencies,  or,  when  exceedingly  busy  with  my  multi- 
tudinous duties,  with  nothing  more  than  a  rejection  slip. 
Therefore,  I  say  do  not  overlook  the  fact  that  comedy  must 

7 


be  expressed  in  continuous  and  consecutive  action  if  it  is 
to  be  acceptable  as  a  screen  production. 

1 1 .  Next  we  come  to  the  element  of  characterization. 
It  is  not  as  necessary  to  develop  each  character  to  its  fullest 
extent  and  with  all  the  subtleties  that  are  necessary  in  the 
creation  of  serious  screen  drama.  Nevertheless  the  char- 
acters must  be  consistent  to  as  great  an  extent  as  possible. 
You  have  as  a  unit  of  the  Palmer  Plan  a  copy  of  "SPEED 
AND  SUSPICION."  Here  is  practically  no  character- 
ization at  all  so  far  as  the  finer  points  are  concerned.  In  a 
one-reel  subject  it  is  almost  impossible  to  develop  details 
of  personal  inclinations  and  habits,  yet  even  in  a  subject  of 
this  sort  it  is  possible  to  analyze  each  character  and  keep 
each  character  within  certain  bounds. 

12.  Take  the  motorcycle  officer  for  instance.  He  is 
persistently  intent  upon  just  one  thing — the  sincere  execu- 
tion of  his  duty.  At  every  point  he  is  suspicious — he  wants 
to  be  shown — he  believes  nothing  until  he  sees  it.  After 
he  has  gone  upstairs  and  witnessed  what  he  believes  to  be 
Mrs.  Syx  in  bed  and  exceedingly  ill,  he  insists  upon  going 
up  again  and  obtaining  her  signature  in  order  that  he  may 
make  a  complete  report.  He  has  just  one  thing  in  his  mind 
and  that  is  the  pursuance  of  his  duty.  Mr.  Syx  is  obsessed 
by  just  one  thought  and  that  is  to  escape  from  a  jail  sen- 
tence.   He  goes  to  any  extreme  to  effect  this  escape. 

Mr.  Ryde  is  a  friend  in  need  and  a  friend  indeed.  He 
is  willing  to  do  anything  to  assist  his  old  pal,  even  when  the 
whole  situation  looks  hopeless,  and  he  starts  to  make  his 
escape.  He  meets  his  sweetheart  and  immediately  presses 
her  into  service  to  assist  his  friend  in  releasing  him  from 
his  extreme  predicament.  Mrs.  Syx  from  the  moment  she 
meets  the  officer  until  the  finish  of  the  story  is  a  suspicious 
and  jealous  wife.  In  comedy  as  in  drama  we  must  con- 
stantly realize  that,  while  at  times  it  is  possible  to  enter 
into  the  intricacies  of  a  characterization,  it  is  safer  and 
more  desirable  to  deal  with  the  predominating  character- 
istics of  each  of  the  men  and  women  involved  in  the  story. 
One  may  be  a  jealous  person,  one  may  be  filled  with  the 

8 


sense  of  duty,  another  may  be  stingy,  another  may  be  a 
spendthrift — we  may  deal  with  characters  bent  upon  re- 
venge, philanthropy,  patriotism,  etc.,  etc.,  but  let  each  one 
be  guided  by  his  or  her  predominating  characteristics. 

14.  Occasionally,  of  course,  we  may  deal  with  a  re- 
vulsion of  characterization.  Some  of  the  funniest  scenes 
that  have  ever  been  produced  in  screen  comedy  have  dealt 
with  a  downtrodden  person  who  has  suddenly  started  to 
assert  himself.  It  is  the  turning  of  the  worm.  Charlie 
Chaplin  has  frequently  been  seen  as  a  little  fellow  domi- 
nated and  abused  by  a  great  hulk  of  a  man.  He  has 
borne  the  domination  and  permitted  the  abuse  until  he  has 
reached  the  breaking  point,  and  then  suddenly  collected 
all  his  latent  courage  and  fought  like  a  lion,  defeating  all 
opponents  and  overcoming  all  obstacles,  yet  up  to  that 
breaking  point  he  has  been  consistently  the  downtrodden 
worm.  Such  revulsion  and  in  other  cases  regeneration 
may  come  at  a  crisis  and  toward  the  end  of  the  story,  but 
up  to  such  a  point  the  characterization  as  established  at  the 
opening  of  the  story  should  be  consistent. 

15.  If  you  will  stop  and  think  for  a  moment,  you 
will  realize  that  you  judge  your  friends  and  acquaintances 
by  a  predominating  characteristic  in  each  case.  You  speak 
of  a  man  as  being  exceedingly  stingy  and  you  laugh  at  him 
for  this  reason.  You  ridicule  him  to  his  face  or  behind  his 
back  because  he  is  a  stingv  man.  He  mav  be  a  fine  citizen, 
he  may  be  saving,  a  good  father  and  husband,  and  really  a 
mighty  fine  fellow,  but  the  outstanding  inclination  toward 
stinginess  demands  first  attention.  For  comedy  purposes, 
at  least,  he  is  first,  last  and  all  the  time  a  stingy  man.  In 
comedy  we  are  seeking  no  particular  moral  except  through 
satire,  with  which  we  shall  later  concern  ourselves,  there- 
fore all  we  want  to  know^  of  a  man  or  woman  is  the  out- 
standing and  attention-forcing  characteristic.  You  may 
even  go  a  bit  to  extreme.  In  drama  a  hero  is  a  hero,  a 
villain  a  villain,  a  heroine  a  heroine,  and  so  on,  yet  those 
characterizations  may  be  modified  in  order  to  make  the 
drama  human,  but  in  comedy  the  villain  may  always  be  a 

9 


villain,  the  hero  always  a  hero,  and  the  heroine  always  a 
heroine. 

16.  Next  in  the  order  of  the  chapters  in  the  Hand- 
book we  come  to  situation.  That  is  the  pivot  upon  which 
all  of  our  endeavors  in  the  situation-comedy  revolve,  or, 
perhaps  I  should  say,  that  is  the  track  upon  which  the  train 
of  situation-comedy  should  rriove  forward.  We  must  have 
one  situation  following  another,  and  they  must  be  closely 
related  at  all  times.  Succeeding  situations  must  come  about 
naturally  and  in  a  logical  manner  as  the  result  of  the  pre- 
ceding situation.  Let  us  turn  again  to  "SPEED  AND 
SUSPICION."  This  is  an  exceedingly  light  comedy  and 
presented  as  a  unit  of  the  Palmer  Plan  only  to  emphasize 
the  unities  of  time,  place  and  action,  yet  we  may  pick  the 
situations  decisively  in  this  one-reel  ofTering.  Not  the  in- 
cidents, interesting  as  they  may  be,  mind  you,  but  the  situa- 
tions. First,  after  the  motorcycle  chase,  Mr.  Syx  is  caught 
between  the  prospect  of  a  jail  sentence  and  whatever  possi- 
bility of  escape  he  may  invent.  For  the  moment  he  squirms 
out  of  this.  He  was  in  a  situation — a  temporary  crisis — a 
predicament— and  for  the  moment  he  escaped.  Out  of  this 
situation  or  predicament  he  logically  runs  into  another  one 
when  it  becomes  necessary  for  him  to  produce  his  wife's 
signature  for  the  benefit  of  the  suspicious  officer. 

17.  The  next  genuine  situation  occurs  when  the  sus- 
picious Mrs.  Syx,  who  has  returned  from  her  vacation  un- 
expectedly, and  who  has  met  the  officer  outside  the  door, 
demands  to  know  the  cause  of  the  noise  upstairs.  When 
her  suspicions  are  quieted  the  succeeding  situation  occurs 
when  she  sees  the  girl  leaving  the  house  and  starts  to  chase. 
The  return  of  the  officer  supplies  the  final  situation  which 
leads  to  the  end  of  the  story. 

18.  It  must  be  understood  that  this  is  a  one-reel 
comedy  and  no  more  situations  than  those  contained  in 
this  story  can  usually  be  crowded  into  one  thousand  feet 
of  film. 

19.  In  writing  a  drama  we  interest  the  audience  in 
our  hero  or  heroine  and  then,  in  placing  obstacles  in  their 

10 


paths  and  bringing  them  into  difficult  and  dangerous  situa- 
tions, we  win  the  audience's  sympathy  for  them.  The 
spectators  sit  breathless  with  suspense  and  frequently  with 
tears  in  their  eyes  as  they  sympathize  with  and  hope  for 
the  "good"  characters  and  abhor  the  "bad"  ones.  They  are 
earnestly  interested  in  the  lives  of  these  fictitious  people 
and  they  take  the  events  of  the  story  seriously.  In  a  com- 
edy this  is  reversed.  The  characters  in  a  screen  comedy 
may  get  into  all  sorts  of  trying  and  thrilling  predicaments, 
yet  the  audience  laughs  heartily  at  all  the  discomfiture 
and  pain  that  the  characters  suffer.  As  Mr.  Palmer  has 
explained  in  the  Handbook,  practically  every  comedy  is 
founded  upon  the  misfortunes  of  a  character  or  group  of 
characters.  At  the  end,  however,  audiences  like  to  see 
everything  satisfactorily  explained,  the  tangle  straight- 
ened out  and  a  "happy  ending." 

20.  In  a  two-reel  comedy  there  must  be  a  stronger 
sequence  of  situations  and  much  more  body  to  the  plot 
than  in  a  one-reel  subject.  It  is  equally  obvious  that  a  five- 
reel  comedy-drama  must  contain  the  same  general  amount 
of  material  that  a  five-reel  serious  drama  would,  with  the 
difference  that  the  author  seeks  to  make  the  audience  laugh 
rather  than  sympathize  and  weep.  In  any  comedy  the 
sequence  of  situations  must  be  connected  and  co-related 
quite  as  carefully  as  in  a  serious  drama.  Many  stories  are 
submitted  to  studios  by  untrained  writers — stories  contain- 
ing sequences  of  incidents  and  possibly  some  really  good 
situations  that  are  very  laughable  in  themselves,  but  that 
are  so  unrelated  and  disconnected  that  they  do  not  make 
a  real  plot  or  story.  Such  manuscripts  of  course  have  to 
be  rejected.  It  is  regrettable  that  a  writer  who  is  capable 
of  inventing  a  number  of  funny  incidents  and  situations 
should  not  take  the  time  to  learn  how  to  skillfully  connect 
them  and  build  them  into  a  well-rounded  plot,  for  this  is 
the  only  sort  of  material  that  will  sell. 

21.  Next  in  the  Handbook  we  come  to  "theme."  In 
dealing  with  comedy,  theme  is  not  of  the  vital  importance 
that  it  is  in  serious  drama,  yet  practically  every  comedy 

11 


may  to  a  certain  extent  be  analyzed  for  theme.  The  theme 
of  a  story  may  be  summed  up  in  a  single  word,  such  as 
"revenge,"  "suspicion,"  "jealousy,"  or  in  a  brief  phrase 
such  as  "foolish  ambition,"  "false  pride,"  "misplaced  con- 
fidence," or  something  of  the  sort.  Little  attention  need 
be  paid  to  theme  in  comedy. 

22.  The  sixth  chapter  deals  with  "material."  Mr. 
Palmer  has  spoken  of  the  unending  supply  of  dramatic 
material,  and  I  assure  vou  that  the  world  is  just  full  of 
happenings  that  may  be  utilized  in  comedy  if  properly 
handled.  If  there  is  a  drama  in  every  house  and  around 
every  corner,  there  is  by  all  means  a  laugh  to  be  found 
in  every  minute  of  life.  The  comedy  is  a  definite  sense, 
inborn  and  innate,  and  the  writer  must  possess  this  sense 
to  begin  with.  Then  he  must  search  for  material.  Such 
material  will  be  found  in  fragments  and  must  be  manipu- 
lated and  given  careful  and  skillful  treatment  in  order  to 
work  it  into  definite  plot  form  and  render  it  tempting  to  a 
scenario  buyer  and  interesting  to  an  audience.  You  may 
hit  upon  a  strong  single  situation,  and  one  that  is  intensely 
funny,  but  this  is  by  no  means  sufficient,  nor  is  it  a  com- 
plete story  in  itself. 

23.  Here  is  a  situation  that  has  been  used  several 
times  with  different  treatment  and  variations.  Two  men, 
both  of  them  swindlers  of  the  Wallingford  type,  are  being 
pursued  by  officers  of  the  law  and  it  is  very  necessary  that 

•  they  keep  separated  and  permit  no  one  to  see  them  to- 
gether. In  addition  to  this  fact,  they  have  fallen  out  and 
are  bitterest  personal  enemies,  each  having  threatened  the 
other.  One  of  them  goes  to  a  hotel  carrying  a  suitcase 
containing  his  pajamas  and  toilet  articles;  registers,  rents 
a  room  and  is  taken  up  to  it  by  a  bell  boy  who  imm.ediately 
goes  back  down  to  the  hotel  office.  This  man,  whom  we 
may  call  Mr.  Black  for  convenience,  goes  into  the  room, 
and  passes  through  to  the  private  bath  where  he  deposits 
his  suitcase.  He  immediately  leaves  the  room,  locks  the 
door,  goes  down  to  the  hotel  desk  and  throws  his  key  care- 
lessly on  the  counter,  passing  on  out  into  the  street  to  trans- 

12 


act  some  business  elsewhere.  Within  a  short  time  his 
former  associate  and  present  enemy,  Mr.  White,  comes  to 
the  same  hotel  and  registers. 

24.  The  clerk  takes  down  another  key  from  the  rack, 
lays  it  on  the  counter  within  a  few  inches  from  the  one 
left  by  Mr.  Black  and  summons  a  bell  boy.  The  bell  boy 
picks  up  Mr.  Black's  key  instead  of  the  one  that  has  been 
assigned  to  Mr.  White  and  shows  Mr.  White  up  to  the 
same  room  that  has  been  rented  to  Mr.  Black.  Mr.  White 
has  just  reached  the  city  from  a  long  journey  and  prepares 
for  some  immediate  rest.  There  is  a  screen  standing  a  few 
feet  from  the  open  window,  and  Mr.  White  after  undress- 
ing lays  his  clothes  over  the  top  of  the  screen  and  imme- 
diately goes  to  bed  and  to  sleep.  Several  hours  later  Mr. 
Black  returns  and  being  preoccupied  with  many  worries 
absent-mindedly  passes  the  desk  and  goes  straight  to  his 
room  without  asking  for  his  key.  Mr.  White  has  left  the 
key  in  the  door  and  Black  enters  without  giving  the  inci- 
dent any  thought  whatever. 

25.  Mr.  Black  goes  immediately  into  the  bathroom 
without  noticing'Mr.  White  in  bed  or  Mr.  White's  clothes 
hanging  over  the  top  of  the  screen.  In  the  bathroom  Mr. 
Black  undresses,  puts  on  his  pajamas,  comes  back  into  the 
room,  rings  for  a  bell  boy,  who  immediately  comes  up  to 
the  door.  Mr.  Black  hands  him  his  suit,  telling  him  to 
take  it  out  to  a  tailor  to  be  pressed.  When  the  bell  boy  has 
departed  Mr.  Black  locks  the  door  and  starts  toward  the 
bed  and  prepares  to  retire.  As  he  does  so  he  stumbles 
against  the  screen,  which  tips  towards  the  window,  and 
Mr.  White's  clothes  fall  from  the  top  of  the  screen  and 
out  the  window,  where  they  land  in  a  passing  automobile 
truck  and  are  carried  away. 

26.  As  Mr.  Black  turns  toward  the  bed,  Mr.  White 
awakens.  Here  we  have  the  situation.  Here  are  two  men 
who  for  their  own  good  ought  positively  not  be  found  to- 
gether and  who  are  at  the  same  time  bitter  enemies  and 
prepared  to  fight  at  a  moment's  notice.  Each  has  a  single 
suit  of  clothes  with  him,  but  one  suit  has  been  whisked 

13 


away  in  an  automobile  and  the  other  has  been  sent  out  to 
be  pressed.  Upon  this  situation  a  story  may  be  built,  but 
first  we  must  go  back  and  supply  the  details  of  the  former 
relations  between  Black  and  White,  and  work  the  story 
from  a  given  start  up  to  the  present  moment.  Then  we 
must  continue  from  this  situation  and  build  on  up  to  a 
climax  and  satisfactory  ending. 

21 .  The  same  situation  might  deal  with  a  man  and 
wife  who  have  been  separated  and  who  having  closed  up 
their  home  have  each  decided  to  go  to  a  hotel  and  make 
arrangements  for  a  divorce.  It  might  be  the  wife's  clothes 
that  fall  out  the  window  and  the  man's  suit  that  is  sent  out 
to  be  pressed,  and  the  situation  might  lead  to  a  reconcilia- 
tion and  a  happy  ending. 

28.  The  same  situation  might  be  varied  to  deal  with 
two  women.  There  are  numerous  ways  in  which  a  story 
might  be  built  into  a  very  funny  comedy  by  going  back 
and  building  from  the  start  up  to  this  situation  and  from 
here  on  to  a  conclusion.  I  have  given  this  example  merely 
to  illustrate  how  necessary  it  is  to  devote  much  careful 
thought  and  skillful  treatment  to  adding  new,  although 
carefully  related,  situations  when  one  has  been  found  that 
serves  as  a  story  germ.  These  related  situations  must  be 
filled  in  with  incidents  and  the  whole  structure  must  be  co- 
ordinated and  given  motive  and  plausibility  throughout. 

29.  If  we  were  dealing  with  this  situation  as  the 
foundation  of  a  drama,  we  might  make  it  exceedingly 
serious  and  even  tragic.  In  handling  it  for  comedy  pur- 
poses we  may  work  the  suspense  up  to  a  certain  point  and 
then  bring  it  to  a  ludicrous  termination,  working  imme- 
diately into  another  and,  if  possible,  funnier  situation.  In 
serious  drama  it  is  desirable  to  make  each  succeeding  situa- 
tion more  dramatic  and  filled  with  more  suspense  than  the 
preceding  one.  In  comedy  we  endeavor  to  make  each  suc- 
ceeding situation  funnier  and  funnier  as  the  story  pro- 
gresses. If  situations  in  a  comedy  are  carefully  built  we 
will  automatically  have  suspense,  just  the  same  as  in  drama. 
In  the  temporary  crisis  that  I  have  just  mentioned  the  au- 

14 


dience  is  in  suspense  from  the  moment  they  realize  that 
Mr.  Black  and  Mr.  White  have  engaged  the  same  room. 
It  knows  that  they  are  going  to  meet  eventually  and  the 
nearer  that  Black  and  White  get  together  the  greater  be- 
comes the  suspense,  which  reaches  its  height  when  White 
awakens  and  sees  Black  standing  by  the  bedside  in  his 
pajamas.  Perhaps  a  fight  starts  immediately.  Perhaps, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  two  men  are  too  shrewd  to  start  any 
disturbance,  but  just  after  recognizing  each  other  there 
may  come  a  knock  at  the  door  and  the  officers  that  are 
pursuing  them  may  demand  entrance.  This  would  natu- 
rally bring  about  the  necessity  of  Black  and  White  step- 
ping out  of  the  window  and  creeping  around  to  a  nearby 
fire  escape  in  order  to  flee.  At  once  we  have  the  laugh- 
provoking  sight  of  two  men  in  pajamas  being  pursued  by 
officers  of  the  law.  These  are  merely  rambling  suggestions 
given  in  order  to  show  how  a  story  may  be  kept  fluid  and 
be  turned  over  and  over  in  the  mind  of  the  comedy  writer 
before  definite  treatment  is  decided  upon. 

30.  Do  not  under  any  circumstances  allow  yourself 
to  decide  upon  incidents,  situations  or  the  sequence  of 
situations  until  you  have  looked  the  matter  over  from 
every  possible  angle.  Even  though  you  have  what  seems 
to  be  a  funny  sequence,  lay  it  aside  for  a  day  or  so  and 
review  the  story  from  start  to  finish,  trying  to  find  ways 
and  means  of  making  it  funnier. 

31.  The  element  of  unity  is  as  necessary  in  comedy 
as  in  drama,  and  I  believe  it  to  be  more  so.  A  screen 
comedy  must  move  faster  than  the  average  drama  and  to 
interrupt  it  with  lapses  of  time  or  changes  of  locality  in- 
terrupts the  accelerating  movement.  It  is  not  always  pos- 
sible to  avoid  lapses  of  time,  nor  is  it  always  easy  to  hold 
a  story  to  a  single  locality,  but  it  is  exceedingly  desirable 
to  do  both  of  these  things  as  consistently  as  you  can. 

32.  Now  as  to  motive — ^you  will  find  that  you  may 
test  a  comedy  eflectively  and  accurately  in  the  same  way 
that  a  drama  may  be  summed  up  and  tested  for  motive. 
In   the   Encyclopedia  we  have  the   analysis  of   "THE 

15 


GOLDEN  CHANCE."  Analyze  your  comedies  in  the 
same  way.  Simple  and  light  as  "SPEED  AND  SUS- 
PICION" is,  the  following  analysis  will  illustrate  how 
the  sequence  of  motive  may  be  determined. 

(A)  Because  Mrs.  Syx  is  away  on  a  vacation  ]\lr. 
Syx  takes  a  day  off  and  starts  on  a  joy  ride  with  a  friend 
of  his  bachelor  days. 

(B)  Because  timid  Mr.  Ryde  objects  to  the  speed 
that  they  are  making,  Mr.  Syx  "steps  on  it"  all  the  more 
and  is  pursued  by  a  motorcycle  policeman. 

(C)  Because  Mr.  Syx  has  been  arrested  several  times 
before  and  has  been  warned  by  the  Judge  that  the  next 
offense  will  mean  a  jail  sentence,  he  is  naturally  frantic  to 
escape. 

(D)  Because  of  this  frantic  fear  Mr.  Syx  glibly  lies 
about  his  wife  being  sick  and  Ryde  being  a  doctor. 

(E)  Because  the  motorcycle  policeman  knows  that 
Mr,  Syx  has  been  a  persistent  breaker  of  the  speed  laws 
and  that  he  has  strict  orders  to  arrest  him  whenever  he  is 
caught  committing  such  an  offense,  and  although  he  is  in- 
clined to  believe  the  story  of  the  sick  wife,  he  decides  to 
be  absolutely  sure  in  the  matter. 

(F)  Because  of  the  officer's  persistence,  Mr.  Syx  has 
to  think  quickly  and  on  the  spur  of  the  moment  whispers 
to  Mr.  Ryde  to  disguise  as  the  sick  wife. 

(G)  Because  Mr.  Ryde  realizes  the  seriousness  of 
the  situation  and  the  necessity  of  carefully  playing  the  part 
of  a  doctor,  he  takes  the  leather  tool  kit  with  him  to  look 
like  a  medicine  case. 

(H)  Because  Mr.  Ryde  desires  to  impress  the  officer 
with  information  that  will  forestall  any  closer  investiga- 
tion he  whispers  "It's  a  boy." 

(I)  Because  the  officer  recalls  the  necessity  of  ob- 
taining Mrs.  Syx's  signature  in  order  to  make  a  complete 
report  of  the  case,  Mr.  Ryde,  who  has  discarded  his  dis- 
guise and  followed  the  other  two  men  downstairs,  realizes 

16 


that  he  must  act  quickly  if  he  is  to  successfully  continue 
playing  the  parts  of  both  the  sick  wife  and  the  doctor. 

(J)  Because  of  his  sudden  panic  when  he  faces  this 
emergency,  he  runs  out  of  the  house  intending  to  leave  Mr. 
Syx  to  his  fate. 

(K)  Because  he  abruptly  runs  into  his  sweetheart 
who  is  passing,  he  reconsiders  and  hastily  leads  her  into 
the  house  so  that  she  may  impersonate  the  sick  wife  and 
save  the  situation. 

(L)  Because  Mr.  Syx  has  not  had  time  to  know  of 
the  substitution,  he  is  in  despair  until  he  sees  the  girl  in 
bed  and  realizes  that  all  is  well  temporarily. 

(M)  Because  Mrs.  Syx  returns  unexpectedly  from 
her  vacation  she  meets  the  officer  as  he  is  leaving  the  house. 

(N)  Because  she  is  naturally  inquisitive  concerning 
his  presence,  he  informs  her  that  a  baby  has  just  been  born 
and  her  suspicions  are  naturally  aroused. 

(O)  Because  the  girl  upstairs  accidentally  tips  over 
a  chair,  Mrs.  Syx  is  still  more  suspicious  and  refuses  to 
believe  the  explanation  that  there  may  be  burglars  in  the 
house. 

(P)  Because  of  her  jealous  suspicions  Mrs.  Syx  in- 
sists upon  accompanying  her  husband  and  Mr.  Ryde  up- 
stairs to  investigate. 

(Q)  Because  the  girl  has  presence  of  mind  to  hide 
behind  the  dresser  Mrs.  Syx  finds  nothing  to  confirm  her 
suspicions. 

(R)  Because  Mrs.  Syx  sees  the  girl  leaving  the  house 
she  realizes  that  her  suspicions  are  justified  and  starts  in 
frantic  pursuit. 

(S)  Because  the  two  men  desire  to  explain  and  avoid 
further  trouble,  they  in  turn  start  after  the  two  fleeing 
women. 

(T)  Because  the  officer  has  been  ordered  to  return 
to  the  house  from  headquarters  and  make  the  arrest  in  spite 

17 


of  what  he  had  regarded  as  a  satisfactory  excuse  for  speed- 
ing, he  arrives  just  as  explanations  are  being  made,  and 
leads  Mr.  Syx  and  Mr.  Ryde  away  under  arrest. 

(U)  If  the  comedy  writer  will  test  each  detailed 
synopsis  with  this  "because"  system,  I  am  sure  that  his  or 
her  manuscript  will  be  much  more  acceptable. 

33.  So  far  as  demand  is  concerned,  audiences  will 
always  insist  upon  comedy  photoplays  as  a  part  of  every 
program.  It  follows  that  we  must  have  a  constant  new 
supply  of  material  and  hence  an  ever-increasing  group  of 
new  comedy  writers.  Some  studios  have  announced  that 
no  manuscripts  submitted  from  the  outside  will  be  con- 
sidered. This  has  been  the  result  of  receiving  vast  numbers 
of  manuscripts  containing  nothing  of  real  value.  Had  the 
authors  of  these  many  unacceptable  manuscripts  studied 
the  technique  of  construction  and  put  the  knowledge 
gained  thereby  into  well-considered  practice,  the  use  of 
the  rejection  slip  would  not  have  been  nearly  as  frequent. 
Most  comedy  producers  are  eagerly  reading  everything 
that  is  submitted  and  purchasing  manuscripts  just  as  often 
as  they  find  anything  that  may  be  produced  upon  the 
screen^  Provided  that  the  student  is  inclined  for  comedy 
and  feels  that  he  or  she  possesses  a  real  sense  of  humor,  I 
urge  that  careful  study  and  preparation  be  devoted  to  the 
subject,  for  without  story  material  the  producer  is  helpless. 
There  is  no  doubt  but  that  there  is  room  for  a  great  number 
of  new  writers  who  are  capable  of  evolving  comedies  that 
are  properly  constructed  and  clearly  set  forth  in  detailed 
synopsis. 

34.  In  comedy,  as  in  drama,  we  must  have  crafts- 
manship. In  comedy  such  craftsmanship  must  be  based 
upon  a  sense  of  humor,  but  of  the  two,  craftsmanship  is  the 
more  important.  The  comedy  writer  is  quite  as  useful  as 
the  screen  dramatist.  No  one  need  look  down  upon  com- 
edy, nor  the  writing  of  comedy.  Some  of  the  most  useful 
lessons  may  be  taught  through  satire.  Human  nature  with 
its  imperfections,  idiosyncracies  and  lamentable  faults  may 
be  held  up  to  the  mirror  and  satirized  in  a  one,  two  or  five- 

18 


reel  comedy  with  exceedingly  beneficial  results.  Some  of 
the  most  rollicking  and  mirth-provoking  screen  produc- 
tions send  the  audience  away  with  lessons  that  have  been 
subconsciously  absorbed,  but  that  are  lasting  and  produc- 
tive of  much  real  good.  I  remember  standing  in  the  lobby 
of  a  theater  just  as  the  matinee  crowd  was  coming  out  one 
afternoon.  The  program  had  closed  with  a  short  comedy 
depicting  a  man  who  was  too  busy  with  his  own  affairs  to 
think  about  his  wife,  who  had  repeatedly  reminded  him 
that  she  needed  a  new  hat.  The  production  was  one  laugh 
after  another  with  scarcely  a  serious  moment  in  it,  but  as 
the  crowd  filed  out  I  saw  a  man  grasp  his  wife's  arm  de- 
terminedly and  I  heard  him  say:  "Come  on,  Mary — I'm 
going  to  buy  you  a  hat."  Undoubtedly  he  had  found  his 
own  nature  and  his  own  quality  of  selfishness  reflected  in 
the  characterization  on  the  screen,  and  apparently  the  re- 
sults were  pleasing  to  his  patient  wife.  The  man  had 
laughed  uproariously  during  the  action  of  the  comedy, 
but  he  had  done  a  little  serious  thinking  between  laughs 
and  it  had  done  him  good. 

35.  Summing  up  briefly  the  work  of  writing  "situa- 
tion-comedies," please  retain  the  thought  that  you  must 
have  a  sequence  of  situations  all  carefully  related,  and  one 
growing  naturally  and  logically  out  of  another  until  the 
final  climax  is  reached.  Write  about  real  people  and 
have  as  much  real  motive  behind  their  actions  as  possible. 
You  may  deal  with  unusual  happenings  and  there  may  be 
a  certain  amount  of  coincidence  and  a  little  departure 
from  probability  occasionally,  but  in  the  main  attempt  to 
be  as  plausible  and  logical  as  possible,  always  working  for 
a  laugh  or  a  smile,  for  it  is  of  such  that  screen  comedies 
are  made. 


19 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


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